Of Grumbles and Rockpools

Hubby and I do not often get days off together. In fact, if you have to be completely honest about it, we have every second Saturday. That is the only time our family is complete. So when Hubby found himself with a day off on a Tuesday, we made plans to go to the beach. The sun was out, it was a sweltering summer day! 

Of course, if this was a movie, the kids would be jubilant, jumping up and down excitedly. Maybe even a family dog barking along with the ruckus they are making because hey, we are going to the beach. 

However, in "Rheel Life", we have no family dog and the kids looked up at me from behind their respective iPads and said in unison, "Ohhhhh, do we have to go out?" 

"Of course we have to go out," I cried out incredulously at the lack of enthusiasm from the pair. "It is summer time! The beach beckons us." 

Okay, so maybe I didn't say those exact words but in the movie I would have. I quickly ushered the kids to change as I ran around the house trying to put together beach towels, multiple tubs of sunscreen and a picnic rug. Finally, after much cajoling, we were out the door and headed for Clovelly.

Of course, in this movie, Hubby took the "other" way.

Traffic.

More whinging from the back seat.

I felt my blood pressure going up. 

Whinging from back seat finally stopped because they fell asleep.

But more traffic.

Peak hour traffic.

Ugh!

Calm down woman! Just enjoy the ride.

Chill.

By the time we got there, it was almost 5pm. The kids jumped straight in the water as Hubby and I lingered on the picnic rug watching them. I can hear Tata squealing as her big brother chased her. After a while, I went in the water to snorkel. Toto joined me as Tata ran back to shore to play with her bucket and spade and hunt for seashells. We always end up with a big handful every time we go to the beach. All different shapes and sizes. Sometimes, even a random beer cap ends up in her collection.

As the sun began to fade where we were, we relocated close to the rockpools. This seemingly logical relocation was met with much complaining from the kids.

"But I want to play on the beach," Toto lamented. "I just met a new friend."

"What is his name?" I remember asking as he pulled out a pout. 

"That was the next thing I was going to ask him but you called me," he grumbled.

"Mummy, is there sand there?" Tata asked. 

"Not as much," I replied truthfully. "But there is a different adventure there."

"I want sand," Little Miss whined.

We eventually ended up on the rock pools. After I had taken them to explore the area, they slowly started to warm up to the area. Toto even found a rockpool deep enough where other kids were jumping into. He joined in. 

Meanwhile, Tata was engrossed with the hundreds of sea snails in the different rock pools we encountered. She would pick them off the side and cluster them to form a little family. She would move onto the next rock pool and would repeat the process.

All is well again and the kids were happily doing their thing. I waved at Hubby as he  watched from a distance. My gaze remained on him as he stood watching other swimmers jump joyously into the water. The sun reflected off his sunglasses and his skin glowed golden under the sun's rays.

I heard Tata shriek excitedly as two dogs joined her and her brother in the shallow water, prying my gaze away from Hubby. The owner of the two dogs coached the kids on how to make the dogs fetch some rocks. Toto and Tata happily played with them, patting them once in a while when they brushed up against their wet fur. More dogs joined them and before they knew it, they were surrounded by at least five, four legged furry creatures of different sizes, tails wagging and tongues dangling out of their smiling mouths. The kids were blissfully ecstatic!

I watched the scene in front of me, a smile on my lips. Here are two kids who, only a couple of hours ago, whinged and complained about leaving the house. 

As the sun began to make its descent into the far distant horizon, I continued to watch the dogs splashing around Toto and Tata. The tide was rising slowly and the waves tickled my feet. Toto threw a rock and one of the dogs fetched it and brought it back to him. 

"Here boy," one owner called out to his chocolate brown cocker spaniel. The dog happily jumped over the small hurdles of rocks and followed his master.

One by one, the dogs began to disappear until there were none left. 

"Time to go now kids," I announced, hugging my arms close to me as a cool breeze nipped at our skin.

"Bye bye sea snails," Tata bid her new discovery farewell. 

"Mummy, dogs are cool," Toto stated a matter of factly. 

"Yes they are," I agreed as I clutched Tata's hand in my left and Toto's in my right.

We skipped and climbed over rocks, the sky turning into a fiery orange canvas. They ran to daddy who wrapped them up in their beach towels. It's the little things that tug at my heart strings. Life need not be movie perfect. We often get caught up in everyone's picture perfect world that we forget to realise we have our own picture perfect moments too. Mind you, they tend to be caught up in between reality and not so good days. 

As we walked back to the car, in much happier dispositions, I have to admit life seemed pretty perfect right then. Even for just a moment. 

My three hearts on their merry way...

The glorious sunset ahead of us showed the way back to our car...

Couldn't have picked a better ending for our little summer movie. 

Roll credits.